Svava Starts, Møller Comes Off Bench In Denmark’s 2-0 Win Over Malta

Denmark continued their perfect run in World Cup Qualifying with a straightforward 2-0 win over Malta.

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Coach Lars Søndergaard went with his typical 3-4-3, deploying narrow wide forwards flanked by aggressive wing-backs, with Real Madrid’s Sofie Svava starting on the left.

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Denmark got off the blocks fast, scoring twice inside seven minutes. Janni Thomsen helped herself to the opener and Olivia Holdt soon followed, netting her debut goal for the national team.

It was smoothing sailing from then on, but Denmark perhaps didn’t dominate to the extent that they might’ve desired. They had lots of the ball and were able to mount a number of attacks, but struggled to fashion the volume of shots that would be expected for a side with 79% possession.

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Denmark tried to force vertical passes into their attackers a little too often and weren’t always able to construct the cleanest moves into the penalty area. Nevertheless, they probably could’ve and should’ve scored more at the end of the day.

Sofie Svava put in a good performance in her 62 minutes, offering necessary width and firing in a number of dangerous crosses from open play and on set-pieces. She was not challenged seriously on the defensive end.

Møller came on for Stine Larsen just as Svava came off and had a quieter game. She offered well to the ball and made good runs into the box, but Malta congested the center and made it difficult for Denmark’s forwards to thrive in build-up.